Thunder rumbled across the sky, and by the afternoon, heavy rain began to pour.
Outside Qianyuan Hall, the golden bricks were splashed with rainwater that rose nearly to the height of a person’s knees.
“With rain this heavy, if Fifth Prince keeps kneeling out there, he’ll ruin his health.”
Empress Wen glanced at the torrential rain outside the window and poured tea for the Emperor beside her, who wore a bright yellow imperial robe.
“Today is his birthday, after all. Your Majesty, perhaps you could show him some mercy…”
Emperor Heng, Gui Sheng, took the tea from her. His expression remained as calm as still water.
“Good tea. The Empress has been thoughtful.”
The Empress, who was nearly fifty, developed a maiden-like blush on her face. She lowered her eyelashes and smiled.
“My father sent it from the local region before the festival. He knew Your Majesty would surely like it.”
The Emperor silently drank half a cup of tea.
After a long while, he finally said, “It is precisely because today is his birthday that I cannot grant his request. Have you forgotten what that mad woman did on his birthday?”
The Empress’s heart skipped a beat.
“Your Majesty, that happened ten years ago…”
The Emperor gave a soft snort and put down his teacup.
Outside the window, the heavy rain streamed down in thick sheets. Mist slowly rose from the cold, wet air.
The Empress studied his expression and let out a quiet sigh.
She said nothing more.
For a moment, the enormous palace chamber fell completely silent.
After a while, the Emperor finally changed the subject.
“How is Jiaojiao doing?”
The Empress quickly replied, “I asked the imperial physicians this morning. They said she has almost completely recovered.”
“Good.”
“Last time I saw her, she seemed quite interested in your chrysanthemum-viewing banquet. Keep an eye on her health. If she hasn’t fully recovered, simply postpone the banquet for a few days.”
The banquet was called a chrysanthemum-viewing banquet, but in reality, it was being held to select consorts for the Crown Prince.
Noble young women and their families from the capital would attend. Some daughters of local officials were even traveling all the way to the capital specifically for the occasion.
The amount of manpower, resources, and effort involved was enormous.
Yet with a single casual sentence from the Emperor, the date that had already been carefully arranged could be changed—
All because of a princess who should have been relatively unimportant to the banquet.
But she was the Emperor’s only daughter.
And she was the daughter of Noble Consort Roujia, who had enjoyed the Emperor’s favor for many years.
The Empress’s hand clenched tightly at her side.
She quietly lowered her eyes and answered softly,
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
*
The rain grew heavier and heavier.
The palace eunuch A-Li wiped the rain from his face and stared at the magnificent palace in front of them, its doors tightly shut.
He pleaded anxiously,
“My lord, let’s go back. Today is your birthday. If you can’t see Noble Consort Yan, then so be it. But you can’t ruin your health as well.”
No one answered.
A-Li looked at the young man kneeling before him.
He wore a well-worn dark gray robe. His shoulders were broad and his waist narrow, his figure exceptionally tall and straight.
Under the pouring rain, he looked like an out-of-place green pine growing from a hard stone floor.
“At least let this servant hold an umbrella for you…”
“No need.”
The voice was extremely calm, like bamboo striking against ice, carrying a faint chill.
A-Li had no idea what to do.
He glanced at the sky twice and muttered quietly,
“Honestly! It was sunny just yesterday, and now it’s raining! Even Heaven is against our lord…”
Gui Heng lowered his head.
Cold rainwater gathered along his sharply defined brows before slowly running down his face.
After a long while, he let out a quiet, almost amused laugh.
“A-Li.”
The young man finally turned his head.
His wet hair curled slightly against his cheeks. Beneath the gloomy sky, his eyes were like dark mist.
“Rain is exactly what we need.”
How was rain a good thing?
A-Li was completely confused.
The golden bricks outside the palace were already hard enough.
With all this rainwater soaking them, the surface was cold, wet, and sticky. Kneeling on it made his knees ache.
But when a master did not explain his thoughts, a servant could not ask.
His master had always been deep and difficult to understand.
Even if he laid everything out plainly, A-Li wasn’t sure he would understand.
In any case, whatever His Highness wanted to do, A-Li would simply accompany him.
A-Li knelt in the rain in a daze.
He did not know how much time had passed.
His vision gradually became blurred.
He blinked hard, forcing the rainwater out of his eyes.
Suddenly, he realized someone was standing in front of them.
The man bent deeply toward the young man who was still kneeling.
“Fifth Prince.”
“Greetings, Eunuch He.”
Gui Heng raised his head.
His voice remained cold and steady, but his body swayed slightly.
A-Li was startled and was about to support him when Eunuch He, who had served the Emperor for many years, reacted even faster.
He reached out and caught the slender young man.
With an almost inaudible sigh, he said,
“Fifth Prince, why do you have to do this to yourself?”
Gui Heng lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Eunuch He studied him for a moment before shaking his head.
“The Emperor said that since today is your birthday, no one else should be allowed to benefit from it. But if there is something you wish to do, His Majesty will not make things difficult for you today…”
Was this…
Permission?
A-Li’s eyes slowly widened.
Gui Heng’s face, cold as carved ice, finally softened into a faint smile.
He coughed twice before lowering his head.
“Cough… cough… Thank you, Eunuch He.”
Eunuch He did not dare accept a prince’s gratitude and hurriedly returned the courtesy.
Gui Heng did not care.
He simply faced the tightly closed palace gates and bowed deeply.
“Your son takes his leave.”
Then he stood up, turned around, and walked away without hesitation.
A-Li froze for a moment.
He quickly scrambled to his feet and followed, hurriedly opening the umbrella.
Gui Heng strode through the pouring rain.
Every step sent countless droplets splashing into the air.
His dark eyes gleamed like ghostly flames.
*
A-Li never imagined that after finally obtaining the Emperor’s permission, they would still be stopped outside Xuanyan Hall.
Xuanyan Hall was the residence of Gui Heng’s birth mother, Noble Consort Yan.
Ten years ago, the Emperor had ordered Noble Consort Yan confined to the palace, forbidding her from leaving.
Over the years, Xuanyan Hall had gradually become the most desolate and isolated place in the entire palace.
Few people ever came here.
It was not officially a cold palace, but it was even more deserted than one.
“Noble Consort Yan!”
Seeing his master’s expression grow darker, A-Li anxiously knocked on the door.
“It’s not anyone else! His Highness has come to see you!”
“Today is the Fifth Prince’s birthday. He has already obtained permission from His Majesty, so you don’t have to worry about being punished!”
“Please open the door and see His Highness just once!”
A-Li pounded on the door again and again.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Yet there seemed to be no one living inside.
There was not the slightest response.
A-Li grew anxious and angry.
He did not dare turn around to look at Gui Heng’s expression, so he simply knocked harder.
Suddenly, someone grabbed his hand and pulled it away from the door.
The pale hand was wet from the rain.
It was extremely cold.
And extremely strong.
“I’ll do it.”
*
Xuanyan Hall already had poor lighting.
With the heavy rain outside, the inside was even darker.
The roof over the main hall had broken a month ago and no one had repaired it.
Qiu Mama had no choice but to place a basin underneath to catch the leaking rainwater.
Noble Consort Yan was sitting weakly beneath the corridor.
In the dim light, her empty eyes were an extremely pale shade of purple.
They were hazy and distant, like smoky crystals soaked in grape juice.
She stared blankly at the basin.
Raindrops fell into it one after another, creating circles of ripples.
They were like the pounding on the palace door, each strike hitting her heart.
After a very long time, the knocking finally stopped.
Noble Consort Yan’s long eyelashes trembled.
A tear slid down her pale cheek.
Qiu Mama, who had followed her into the palace many years ago, sighed and gently dabbed away the tear with a handkerchief.
“The rain is too heavy. His Highness should go back soon, otherwise…”
Before she could finish, the knocking on the door began again.
But this time, it was different.
Instead of the chaotic pounding from before, these knocks were slow and steady.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Each one carried a stubborn determination and endless patience.
It seemed to be telling the person on the other side:
No matter what happens, I will not stop until I get what I want.
Noble Consort Yan’s entire body trembled.
She lowered her head in despair, grabbed Qiu Mama’s arm, and burst into tears.
*
Gui Heng did not know how long he had been knocking.
Finally, the palace doors creaked open.
Qiu Mama’s weathered face appeared.
There were still tears in the corners of her eyes, but the moment she saw him, she could not help smiling.
A-Li was overjoyed to see her and immediately began speaking excitedly.
Gui Heng paid no attention.
He simply looked past Qiu Mama and stared deeply into the courtyard.
Even if it were only a glimpse of a figure…
Even if it were only the edge of a robe…
But in the end, he saw nothing.
After a long while, Gui Heng gave a self-mocking tug at the corner of his lips and turned around.
“Qiu Mama.”
“His Highness.”
Qiu Mama held an umbrella in one hand and hurriedly stretched it out to shield him from the rain.
Gui Heng raised his hand to stop her.
She did not insist.
Instead, she looked at him affectionately, even openly examining him from head to toe.
The Fifth Prince had grown so tall.
The corner of Gui Heng’s lips lifted slightly.
His eyes fell upon the dark purple cloak in her arms.
“Mama, what is that?”
“This was made for you by Noble Consort Yan.”
Qiu Mama handed the cloak to A-Li.
Then she looked up at Gui Heng and sighed.
“Her Ladyship has always kept you in her thoughts.”
“She refuses to see you because she wants what is best for you. Please forgive her, Your Highness.”
Forgive her.
Gui Heng silently repeated those words in his mind.
Slowly, he raised his long, clear eyelashes, which were almost identical to his mother’s.
“Mama, Mother can barely see properly, yet she still made such a large garment…”
“Is she lonely living here by herself?”
Qiu Mama’s eyes grew sore with emotion.
She answered quietly,
“Whether she is lonely or not, after ten years, she has already grown used to it.”
“She remembered that today is your birthday. At first, she wanted to embroider a handkerchief for you.”
“Then she said the weather was colder this year than in previous years and worried that you might get cold.”
“In the end, she stayed up for several nights to make this cloak for you…”
“Please, Your Highness, take good care of yourself.”
A-Li’s hands suddenly tightened around the cloak.
Gui Heng had taken it from him.
The young man’s entire body was soaked through, yet his back remained perfectly straight.
He slowly pulled the cloak against his chest.
“Thank you, Mama.”
His words were directed at Qiu Mama.
But his eyes remained fixed on the space behind her.
Qiu Mama looked at his pale face and sighed.
She bowed and turned back inside.
The doors closed.
Gui Heng remained standing quietly outside Xuanyan Hall.
It was as though he wanted to see through the closed doors and catch a glimpse of the person he had not seen for ten years.
“My lord, let’s go.”
After standing beside him for a while, A-Li became anxious.
“Although His Majesty has given you permission, if you remain here for too long and someone sees you, it could still cause trouble.”
“I heard this morning that Third Prince is in the palace today. If he sees you here, even something harmless could become a problem…”
“You lowly servant! How dare you!”
A furious shout suddenly came from behind them.
At the same moment, a whip cracked through the air.
A-Li immediately squeezed his eyes shut.
Then, a moment later, he suddenly remembered Gui Heng.
He hurriedly opened his eyes.
What he saw was a hand tightly gripping the tip of the whip.
The hand had the slender, elegant bones of a young man.
Because of the force being exerted, blue veins stood out against the pale back of his hand.
A-Li could not help sucking in a breath.
He looked fearfully at the person standing before them and immediately dropped to his knees.
“Greetings, Third Prince!”
Gui Heng calmly raised his eyes and looked at the red-robed young man slowly approaching them.
“…Greetings, Third Imperial Brother.”
“Oh? Isn’t this our Fifth Brother?”
Third Prince Gui De wore a malicious smile.
“What are you doing standing outside the palace gates in weather like this?”
He gave the whip a hard pull.
A-Li nervously looked up.
Gui Heng did not hold on tightly.
The instant Gui De exerted his strength, Gui Heng released his grip.
The whip swept harshly across his palm.
He let go.
A red mark slowly appeared across his hand.
Gui De gave a mocking snort.
“At least you know your place.”
Gui Heng did not want to say anything more.
He gave a faint nod, turned around, and walked away.
Seeing this, A-Li quickly climbed out of the mud and followed him.
“Wait.”
Behind them came Gui De’s arrogant voice.
“Fifth Brother, what are you carrying in your arms?”